Current patient care techniques frequently require the continuous administration to a patient of fluids containing medications, nutrients, blood components, or the like from sources which are removed some distance from the patient. Similarly, current procedures frequently require the administration of gases to and the sampling of gases from a patient which are analyzed for their physical characteristics by equipment located at a distance from the patient.
In most, if not all, cases, the fluid and gases are delivered to and/or from a patient by means of hollow flexible conduit or tubing.
In a typical intravenous (IV) fluid delivery system, for example, there is provided a source bottle or flexible bag containing a fluid substance which is to be delivered to the patient. The source is suspended above the patient from a stand or the like. Attached to the outlet of the source there is provided a length of tubing, sometimes called an IV line. The opposite end of the tubing is fitted with or otherwise connected to a catheter or other apparatus which is inserted in a patient.
In certain circumstances, such as in cases requiring acute, intensive or emergency care, a number of sources of fluids may be connected to the same catheter. In such cases, the individual tubes or IV lines which are connected to each of the sources are joined to a single IV line connected to the catheter or other insertion device by means of a manifold. Alternatively, a number of sources of fluids maybe connected by individual IV lines to separate catheters or other insertion devices for delivering each of the fluids at different locations in a patient simultaneously. For example, an average heart patient in a intensive care unit typically uses from three to six IV fluid sources at a time and sometimes more.
In addition to the fluid sources and tubing, an IV system may also include pressure and flow controllers, filters and other components which are interconnected by IV tubing.
The ends of the tubing which is used to interconnect the various components of a typical IV fluid delivery system are usually provided with fittings for connecting the tubing to the other components in the system. Typically, the tubing with its fittings comes in predetermined lengths. The lengths are not selectable in accordance with an individual patient application, but, are standard lengths which are determined by individual tubing and medical equipment suppliers which supply the tubing. Thus, depending on the location and arrangement of the IV fluid sources and the number and arrangement of the other component parts in the IV system, there maybe, and frequently there is as a result of the standardization practices of individual tubing supplies, an excess of IV tubing interconnecting the component parts which must be accommodated.
In the case of equipment used to sample and analyze gases, such as respiratory gases, for example, equipment requirements frequently determine the length of tubing used for delivering the gases from the patient to the equipment. As in the case of conventional IV fluid delivery systems, such equipment requirements frequently result in excess tubing between the patient and the equipment which must be accommodate.
Presently, it is the practice to freely manually coil the excess IV and gas tubing and use tape, such as adhesive tape or the like, to retain the coils. This practice has been found to create a number of problems. For example, one of the problems is that the manual uncontrolled coiling of the tubing often results in coils having too small a diameter relative to the diameter of the tubing. As a consequence, the tubing may be kinked thus partially or totally occluding the tubing and impairing fluid and/or gas flow to and/or from the patient which may not be immediately noted by attending medical personnel.
Other problems result from the use of tape to retain the coils. For example, when it becomes necessary to shorten or lengthen an IV or gas line, to remove or add a component from or to an IV or gas line or to trace an IV or gas line from an external apparatus to the point of insertion in a patient to verify the line in which fluid or gas flow is to be adjusted or a change in fluid or gas is to be made, it is often necessary to remove the tape, do what is required and thereafter reapply the tape. The amount of tape used can be, and often is, excessive and its removal and reapplication can require the use of two hands and result in inordinate delays.
As discussed above, in acute, intensive or emergency care cases multiple conduits or lengths of tubing may coexist in the same environment. In these cases, rapid recognition of each conduits role and isolation of the conduit or its extremities can be essential to successful life support.
For these reasons the present practice and procedure of using tape to retain the coils is time consuming and troublesome and, in the case of an emergency when it is necessary to make immediate adjustments to the IV or gas system, it can be potentially detrimental to the patient.
In addition to the aforementioned problems resulting from the present practice of freely coiling excess IV or gas tubing and using tape to retain the coils in present IV or gas systems, there is further no provision in present IV or gas systems for identifying the fluid or gas flowing in a particular line by means other than tracing the line to the fluid or gas source.